Water-taxi, No Boats, New Boats, WHY NOT IDEAS???

[strider]

Sorry, but I just think that a taxi should be a taxi, nothing more.  The extras - fancy stops, fancier boats, longer, slower routes - just seem to make it more expensive rather than a affordable and cool way to get around the downtown riverfront.  Compare it to the JTA - if their buses were fancier, more costly, took longer to get from place to place because the drivers spouted history of the area, how long before people began to complain?  (yes, I know, perhaps not the best analogy because the buses are not very good as it is....)

Excursion boats or buses should be separate from transportation services.  Don't we want a downtown riverfront that needs and supports both? So perhaps the question is which one is the best to have first?  Which one will help keep people downtown for entertainment - taxis to destinations or excursions that are destinations?

[fieldafm]

Don't we want a downtown riverfront that needs and supports both?

My answer would be yes. But, my answer is also prefaced by the fact that taxpayers shouldn't fund either. COJ's role should be to provide an environment that is welcoming to private operators. This RFP fiasco proves that environment does not presently exist.

[strider]

Don't we want a downtown riverfront that needs and supports both?

My answer would be yes. But, my answer is also prefaced by the fact that taxpayers shouldn't fund either. COJ's role should be to provide an environment that is welcoming to private operators. This RFP fiasco proves that environment does not presently exist.

OK, so that is now a given.  The mayor's office screwed up.  By your statement, there is nothing new here, is there?  The important thing now is to not point fingers but fix it. How do you propose to do that?  What plan does City Council have in place to fix this?  If they do not have a plan already or do not have one very soon, are they any better than the Mayor's office?

Let's start by asking the right questions.

Do we want a water taxi at all?

Is a water taxi service an important component to the revitalization of downtown?

Should it be just transportation or excursion based?

Can we find a private service provider that can and will do a good job and be a reasonable deal for us tax payers.

Can we include the boats just purchased so that the tax payers can get a benefit out that particularly questionable decision?

As JTA is publicly funded transportation service, why can't the water taxi be at least partially publicly funded?

Just a few thoughts of a possible many.

[fieldafm]

Not convinced JTA should be in the water taxi business. There are buses, a skyway and bridges that accomodate cars, pedestrians and bicyclists that can get you over the river. There are presently two companies downtown that offer year-round river cruises and another that docks at the Hyatt offering long term cruises at certain times of the year, why should taxpayers be in that business as well?

Instead of rushing to buy boats (which is a costly knee-jerk reaction to a problem COJ created themselves), COJ should be taking a step back and reconfiguring the RFP. The only entity that scored high enough on the last RFP was Harbor Care... and the City refused to offer them a contract.

[jaxjaguar]

Shoot... $350k could've been used to add additional lighting to downtown sidewalks for safety... or to buy some paint to add some bike lanes... or to swap out the old crappy parking meters with ones that accept credit cards.

[I-10east]

Sorry, but I just think that a taxi should be a taxi, nothing more.

Where were you when I was trying to hold off the hoards of maritime marauders?

[Buforddawg]

I want to know who got a frickin' hair up their butt and decided to do a number on the water taxi? Why did the city feel the need to bump up the requirements for water taxi service?  Why chase away to only vendor that was able to provide water taxi service? And when the city didn't get any qualified applicants for providing water taxi service, why didn't they call up the past vendor and work out a deal?  Did the Brown administration think that they could save face by not going back to vendor?  They look worse now then if they would have realized they had made a mistake and worked out a deal with the past vendor?   

[IrvAdams]

Shoot... $350k could've been used to add additional lighting to downtown sidewalks for safety... or to buy some paint to add some bike lanes... or to swap out the old crappy parking meters with ones that accept credit cards.

Or to substitute for some of that quarter-at-a-time nit picking parking meter money and start making the streets meter-free as they should be. There are other effective methods for making people move on so they don't camp out indefinitely on the street, but metering is just a restrictive policy to anyone wanting to visit or do business downtown.

Take 'em out!

[I-10east]

^^^+100

[thelakelander]

Stay tuned for the next episode of Water Taxis of Our Lives!

Water taxi boat maker: Second boat is on its way, no refunds

Jacksonville's own Water(taxi)gate debacle continues — with the boat seller not only refusing to refund the City of Jacksonville money for the water taxis purchased earlier this month but saying it will send up the second vessel this week.

[Dog Walker]

Bed tax money going for huge video screens and wading pools could have run the water taxis in any form for many, many years.

Mr. Kahn,  Please move the Jags to Los Angeles before you cost us any more money!

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Bed tax money going for huge video screens and wading pools could have run the water taxis in any form for many, many years.

Mr. Kahn,  Please move the Jags to Los Angeles before you cost us any more money!

Seriously, DW?!?

A competent person in charge inside the walls of city hall that could draw up a simple RFP prior to the original contract expiring would have been a better start.

[edjax]

Bed tax money going for huge video screens and wading pools could have run the water taxis in any form for many, many years.

Mr. Kahn,  Please move the Jags to Los Angeles before you cost us any more money!

How about you just move to Ocala and we will call it even.

[Dog Walker]

I was here WAY before the NFL and don't intend to go anywhere.

What other businesses do cities subsidize like we do professional sports teams?  The incentives given to companies who are actually creating a lot of jobs and economic growth are a pittance compared to the billions that are given to the owners of NFL, NBA, and NLB teams.

Ridiculous!

[Steve]

Most companies that expand or relocate?

Look, bottom line is this: if we want to be a major league city, then this is how it works. Don't hate the player hate the game.

Plus, this is apples and oranges. The fact that the Mayor's office can't complete an RFP has nothing to do with the fact that we have to keep up with the Jones' if we want to be a first class city.